iOS games mushroom to staggering heights

iOS is a world of its own when it comes
to mobile gaming and with Apple reaching out to more and more people
it is bound to success. But even now the numbers are staggering.
Games on iOS in its two years of history outnumber what the gaming
industry put out in 25 years altogether, as some raw statistics
compiled by Richard Gaywood from TUAW show.

Now, no need for extra hype as the
count does not necessarily mean quality. And with the newest consoles
you can argue that one game has the depth to cover for a few iOS
titles, but let's ignore that for a second and look at the numbers.
iOS has the mind blowing 52,000 games compared to a total of nearly
18,000 issued for consoles. Early computer systems'
releases account for some 38,500 games, which also falls short of
Apple's platform.
Counting out titles that included the words “lite” or “free”
gives a more realistic picture of 32,500 iOS games.

And to make the comparison more
accurate, the data compiled by TUAW included Flash games, which alone
account for some 40,000 titles. After all, Flash games share some
features with titles for iOS - the majority of them are less
submersive and not so
graphically intense. Take a look at the graphics compiled by Gaywood
below.

And then again, we know that those
numbers are barely even comparable. Some, if not most, of the games
took literally several hours in the making and cannot compete with
the newest Xbox 360or PS3 titles. What these numbers come to prove is
rather how much of a game-changer iOS is and where the vector of
development is headed.

Finally, the numbers don't mean as much
as the titles. It was Super Mario for Nintendo and Sonic for SEGA
that gave each console its own signature. But
now the landscape changes with the medium and some of the boundaries
might end up blurred. EA, Activision, Id and Epic are all aboard the
iOS train. Will others jump in too? This remains a question of the
future.

2 Comments

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1.JeffdaBeat (unregistered)

There is that whole argument of Quality over Quantity, but let's be honest, there are sucky games on all systems. iOS not excluded.

But game stores will be the future of gaming, just like movie stores like Netflix will be the future. You'll have a PlayStation Network that sells all games, both graphically intensive and lite. I think the fact that the iPhone, some of the Androids, and Windows Phone 7 can handle these graphically challenging games is awesome. Slowly, we are merging a lot of gadgets and devices together.

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